The Ups and Downs of Milwaukee’s School Enrollment

School classroom. (Pixabay License).

Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS) announced in its budget for the coming year that it lost only 51 students in the current (2023-24) school year, as Urban Milwaukee reported. This was a marked improvement from the 1,818 students it lost in the 2022-23 school year and far less of a loss (a decrease of 1,437 students) than it had predicted prior to this school year.

But numbers reported by the district in this year’s budget did not match the numbers in the official Wisconsin Department of Education (DPI) report from the third Friday in September count. According to that report, MPS had actually lost 636 students.

Data cruncher John D. Johnson, a research fellow at Marquette University Law School, noted this inconsistency and pointed it out to Urban Milwaukee in an email: “They don’t quite match the DPI’s official enrollment figures for the district.”

What MPS did not say in its enrollment analysis was the loss of only 51 students was from its regular school programs, not from its contracted schools, mostly charters. “We are not including all our schools in that number,” Martha Kreitzman, MPS chief financial officer, told Urban Milwaukee. “DPI includes everything.”

Once enrollments are set after the third Friday count, school districts and DPI continue to exchange information. In its final tally, MPS now listed that its regular schools lost 54 students while its contracted schools lost 433 students, according to Kreitzman.

“It was unusual that is where we were losing our students,” Kreitzman noted.

After years of growth charter school enrollment growth, the numbers for charter schools in Milwaukee began dropping in the 2022-23 school year as Urban Milwaukee reported in January 2023. MPS charter enrollment dropped by 3%, from 7,786 to 7,544, the story noted. “In contrast, statewide charter enrollment increased by 4.5%. Nor did independent charters authorized by UW-Milwaukee and the City of Milwaukee match the state charter increase. UWM saw a 2% drop in its charter enrollment; the city’s numbers were essentially unchanged.”

That trend continued this year: the loss of 433 students at MPS charter schools was nearly double the loss from the 2022-23 school year

MPS did not close any charters for this year. However, the Milwaukee Excellence charter school accounted for a 294-student loss this year after it ended busing for its students, as Urban Milwaukee reported in March. Milwaukee Excellence is ending its contract for next year as it folds its remaining enrollment into Dr. Howard Fuller Collegiate Academy, a charter of UW-Milwaukee.

Other MPS charter schools had significant drops in enrollment this year. La Causa went from 623 to 570 students. Next Door went from 175 to 107 students.

A few chartering organizations run schools at multiple sites. Milwaukee College Prep saw increases at its 38th Street location but decreases at three other schools although not in significant numbers.

The Carmen charter schools also had varying enrollments. Its flagship south school gained 12 students while two other MPS sites lost, notably Carmen SE, which shares space with a regular MPS school in the Pulaski building, had a loss of 72 students, from 748 to 676.

One MPS charter school has shown consistent growth: Hmong American Peace Academy now has 1,894 students with a growth of 66 students over last year. ALBA, which shares a building with Carmen South, increased enrollment from 595 to 620.

There seems to be no clear pattern why some MPS charter schools are on a downward trend and others are thriving.

For the rest of the state, there has been little growth in the number charter schools for 17 years, as Rory Linnane reported. But total enrollment in charter schools “continued growing, hitting a new peak in the 2020-21 school year with about 51,000 students — about 6% of all Wisconsin students — attending charter schools, according to a report from the state Department of Public Instruction.”

There are still some minor consistencies in the MPS enrollment numbers from one point in the budget to the next. However, in January, another enrollment count will be conducted by all Wisconsin schools for DPI. Few adjustments are expected midyear.

MPS is predicting only a loss of 63 students for next year for its regular schools. It has made no predictions for its charters. But its predictions have not always been accurate.

Johnson is now conducting an analysis of birthrates in the area and what impact that might have on future enrollments in area schools. Birthrates here continue to decline, which could ultimately reduce enrollment for all schools in the city.